College Basketball: Villanova upsets Syracuse in overtime thriller

Villanova's JayVaughn Pinkston, right, has his shot blocked by Syracuse's Baye Keita during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA — As hundreds of his fellow students stormed the court following Villanova’s second upset of a top five team in five days, a stunning 75-71 come-from-behind victory over No. 3 Syracuse in overtime Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, all the freshman guard could think about was self-preservation.

After he took the inbounds pass from teammate Darrun Hilliard to seal the victory, Arcidiacono threw the ball in the air and immediately went into duck-and-cover mode.

“I braced myself for all these kids; cheerleaders (were) trying to take off my jersey,” said Arcidiacono, who’s 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime and set the stage for the wild finish. “I was trying to get out of there, but I was in the opposite corner of our locker room. People were grabbing me,”

As Arcidiacono tried to make his way to the Villanova locker room through that mass of humanity, a thought popped into his head.

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“It was fun, but hopefully people know that we don’t need that anymore,” Arcidiacono said. “We got our two in and let’s hope the rest of these we’re expected to win and they don’t have to rush the court.”

Arcidiacono may get his wish on that account, but it could be a long time before the Wildcats (13-7 overall, 4-3 Big East) go through another week like this one. Villanova opened the week with a stunning 73-64 victory over No. 5 Louisville Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center. The Wildcats then rallied from a six-point deficit in regulation to hand Syracuse (18-2, 6-1) its first conference loss.

“What a week for us,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

Yes it was. It was historic.

It was the first time in program history that the Wildcats knocked off two top five teams in the same week and capped, and the third win over a top 10 team by a Big 5 squad this week. Wednesday, La Salle followed up Villanova’s victory over Louisville with a 54-53 triumph over No. 9 Butler.

It took another gritty effort for the Wildcats to claim their second major scalp in five days. Villanova rallied from a 61-55 deficit with 3:36 to play in regulation to send the game into overtime on Arcidiaono’s off-balanced 3-pointer.

Hilliard had no trouble finding his shooting stroke. The 6-6 sophomore shot 8-for-11 (3-for-6 from 3-point range) and 6-for-9 from the free throw line to finish with career highs in points (25) rebounds (seven) and assists (six). More importantly, though, he had no turnovers in 41 minutes.

Center Mouphtaou Yarou had another double-double against the Orange with 14 points and 16 rebounds before he fouled out in the extra session. After missing nine straight shots, including a pair of free throws early in the overtime, James Bell drilled two 3-pointers and scored eight of his 13 points to secure the victory. Sixth man and leading scorer JayVaughn Pinkston contributed nine points and nine boards despite foul trouble in the second half.

Yet the Wildcats won this one on defense. Villanova held Syracuse to 33 percent shooting overall and 35 percent from 3-point range. Syracuse also killed itself by shooting 68 percent from the free throw line (24-for-35). That included three misses by Michael Carter-Williams in the final eight minute.

“We missed a lot of shots round the basket and you can’t miss those shots on the road,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We’ve been making all of our key free throws, we’ve been shooting really good, I think we’re first or second in the league in free throw shooting. We could have put the game away with a couple of free throws. We could have tied it in overtime. We just missed some shots that you have to make to win a game like this.”

Despite those misses, the Orange were able to open up a six-point lead behind a balanced offense, led by Brandon Triche (23 points), Carter-Williams (17), Jerami Grant (12) and C.J. Fair (10). But the Orange were not able to put the Wildcats away because of two missed shots, a missed free throw by Carter-Williams with 18.8 seconds left and two critical turnovers.

That misfortune allowed Villanova to cut the lead to 61-58. Yarou’s eighth offensive rebound of the game set the stage for Arcidiacono’s 3-pointer heard around ‘Nova Nation.

Bell put up a 3-pointer in an attempt to tie the game, but his ashot was off the mark. Yarou corralled the rebound, looked around and fired a perfect pass to Arcidiacono, who avoided a Syracuse defense to drain one of the biggest shots of his young career.

“Mouph was a beast,” Arcidiacono said. “He got the rebound … he just turned and saw me in the corner. I did like a little shot fake and then just put it up and luckily it went in.”

Pandemonium ensued as Carter-Williams launched an unsuccessful desperation heave from beyond midcourt as time expired, but it paled in comparison to what took place after Bell came to life in overtime. The 6-6 junior buried his second 3-pointer of the game to give the Wildcats a 66-64 lead. Then, after Brandon Triche missed the back end of a two-shot foul that could have tied the game with 46.5 seconds left, Bell drained his final 3-pointer of the day to put the ‘Cats in front, 71-68, with 26.8 left.

Four more combined free throws from Pinkston, Hilliard and Arciadiacono and the upset was secure. All Hilliard had to do was get the ball to Arcidiacono as the student body stacked up on both baselines to storm the court for the second time in five days.

The students did not wait for the horn to sound. The rushed the floor as soon as Hilliard let go on the ball. Arcidiacono never had a chance. He was swarmed immediately, which forced the Wildcats to hold their traditional post-game prayer without their point guard.

“No one could find him in the crowd,” Wright said. “We waited … but we couldn’t find him.”

Hilliard didn’t have that problem. He had the sense to bolt for the locker room as soon as he passed the ball to Arcidiacono.

“The first time I enjoyed it,” Hilliard said. “The second time I said, ‘I have to get out of here.’ They get real crazy, but it’s an enjoyable moment.”